He is the Holy Spirit…

In teaching on the Holy Spirit’s role in Acts, I saw a few things I wanted to share about Him:

* He can’t be caught. “Catching the Spirit” is an expression that is tied to tradition and not truth. The Spirit can move in a church service (Acts 2), but he can move any and anywhere he feels. He is God. Acts 5:3-4

*He is not an it. The Spirit is not an it or impersonal force. He is a person. John 16:7

*He is the third person of the Triune God. Matthew 28:19. But the members of the Trinity are still one God. Romans 6:4

*He is the Gift that God the Father gives to those who trust in Jesus for salvation. Acts 2:38

*He won’t leave you. He comes to live inside of you and is a seal of your salvation. Ephesians 1:14; Romans 8:12.

*He is necessary to live out the lifestyle of the believer in Jesus. Romans 8:5, Galations 5:16.

*He changes the worship game. Before Jesus came to earth, the Holy Spirit lived in the temple, which was where you came to worship. There was one place that people came to worship the One God and that was the temple in Jerusalem. Now, the Holy Spirit lives in those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. We become the temples and the places of worship. Our life and how we live it becomes an act of worship to God. John 4:24; Romans 12:1.

I believe in the Holy Spirt and that He is indeed God, and a person.
My problem is how do I explain to someone(a JW, for instance) that a person is living inside of me, as opposed to just a force acting upon it? I know that they have wrongly translated the Bible, but how do I explain to them that the Holy Spirit is a person? The following is what the Jehovah’s Witnesses believe. They begin with the question Is the Holy Spirit a Person?

Is the Holy Spirit a Person?

Should You Believe in the Trinity?
Is Jesus Christ God?
WHAT is God’s holy spirit? In its opening words, the Bible speaks of the holy spirit—also rendered “God’s active force”—as “moving to and fro over the surface of the waters.” (Genesis 1:2) In the account of Jesus’ baptism, while God is described as being in “the heavens,” the holy spirit appears “descending like a dove” upon Jesus. (Matthew 3:16, 17) Additionally, Jesus spoke of the holy spirit as a “helper.”—John 14:16.

These and other Bible passages have led some to conclude that the holy spirit is a person, just as God, Jesus, and the angels are individual spirit persons. In fact, for centuries some of the most influential religions of Christendom have attributed personality to the holy spirit. Despite this long-standing doctrine, many church members remain confused, and some even disagree with their religious leaders. For instance, according to a recent survey, 61 percent of those interviewed believe that God’s spirit is “a symbol of God’s presence or power but is not a living entity.” What, though, does the Bible say?

What the Bible Says
An honest Bible reader cannot help but conclude that the holy spirit differs from official church descriptions of it as a person. Consider the following Bible accounts.

1. When Mary, the mother of Jesus, visited her cousin Elizabeth, the Bible says that the unborn child in Elizabeth’s womb leaped, “and Elizabeth was filled with holy spirit.” (Luke 1:41) Is it reasonable that a person would be “filled” with another person?

2. When John the Baptizer spoke to his disciples about Jesus as the one who would succeed him, John said: “I, for my part, baptize you with water . . . , but the one coming after me is stronger than I am, whose sandals I am not fit to take off. That one will baptize you people with holy spirit.” (Matthew 3:11) John could hardly have been referring to the holy spirit as a person when he spoke of baptizing people with it.

3. While visiting a Roman army officer and his family, the apostle Peter spoke of Jesus as having been anointed by God “with holy spirit and power.” (Acts 10:38) Shortly afterward, “the holy spirit fell upon” the army officer’s household. The account says that many were amazed “because the free gift of the holy spirit was being poured out also upon people of the nations.” (Acts 10:44, 45) Here again, the terms used are inconsistent with the idea of the holy spirit being a person.

It is not unusual for God’s Word to personify things that are not a person. These include wisdom, discernment, sin, death, and undeserved kindness. (Proverbs 8:1–9:6; Romans 5:14, 17, 21; 6:12) Jesus himself said that “wisdom is proved righteous by all its children,” or its good results. (Luke 7:35) Clearly, wisdom is not a person that has literal children! Likewise, the holy spirit is not a person simply because in some instances it is personified.

What Is the Holy Spirit?
In the Bible, God’s holy spirit is identified as God’s power in action. Hence, an accurate translation of the Bible’s Hebrew text refers to God’s spirit as “God’s active force.” (Genesis 1:2) This concept is well supported throughout the Bible.—Micah 3:8; Luke 1:35; Acts 10:38.

Contrary to popular belief, God is not present everywhere at all times. Rather, he dwells in the spirit realm, in an “established place of dwelling,” or residence. (1 Kings 8:39; 2 Chronicles 6:39) The Scriptures also refer to a specific place where God lives and has his “throne.” (1 Kings 22:19; Isaiah 6:1; Daniel 7:9; Revelation 4:1-3) However, from his “established place of dwelling,” he can use his active force to reach out into every corner of both the spirit realm and the physical realm.—Psalm 139:7.

Back in 1879, Bible scholar Charles L. Ives aptly illustrated God’s ability to exercise his power from a fixed location. He wrote: “For example, we say, ‘Open the shutters, and let the sun come into the room.’ We mean, not the real, bodily sun, but the solar ray, that which proceeds from the sun.” Similarly, God has no need to travel to the locations where he intends to use his active force. He simply employs his holy spirit, which can reach to the extremities of creation. Seeing the holy spirit for what it is—God’s powerful active force—can give you confidence that Jehovah will fulfill his promises.

This is how they think. Truly, this is truth mixed with lies. So, how do I counter? Retta